Electric Chair Use Assailed

April 30, 1985|United Press International

WASHINGTON — Two Supreme Court justices say death in the electric chair is the modern version of burning at the stake and should be replaced by more humane forms of execution such as injection of lethal drugs.

Justices Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan went to extra lengths Monday in denouncing electrocution as a method of execution, saying it is ``extremely violent and inflicts pain and indignities far beyond the mere extinguishment of life.``

The two men -- foes of capital punishment of any kind -- made the statement in a written dissent to the court`s refusal to review the conviction of Jimmy Glass, who is awaiting execution in Louisiana`s electric chair.

Brennan and Marshall, referring to recent executions that have lasted several minutes, called electrocution ``the contemporary technological equivalent of burning people at the stake.``

``Witnesses routinely report that when the switch is thrown, the condemned prisoner cringes, leaps and fights the straps with amazing strength,`` they said. ``These features of electrocution seem so inherent in this method of execution as to render it ... cruel and unusual punishment forbidden by the Eighth Amendment.``